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I’m always worried that I’m not reading enough or not reading the right things. Creating a set of laws about how and what I read that has no relationship to my immediate impulses or desires helps me feel like I’m making progress through everything I want to absorb. For the past four years it‘s looked like this:
I’m always reading three books: one novel, one non-fiction book that’s mostly about information I want to learn about, and one collection of short stories or essays.
I read 50 pages of the novel. Then 50 pages of non-fiction. Then 50 pages of novel. Then 50 pages of the collection. Even if I’m really engrossed, I switch after 50 pages.
Maybe this sounds psychotic but it works for me and makes sure a more challenging read doesn’t bog me down.
I also have a system about when I read a book I just bought and when I read a book I’ve had for a long time and when I read a book that’s old and when I read a book that was written right now…. yikes
Anything to keep the anxiety at bay
Jan 16, 2024
Related Recs
📙
not an avid reader (~3-4 books / year, trying to get that number up) but the things that have really invigorated my reading when it feels like a chore to get started:
- reading books that aren’t challenging to start off. all about love and the will to change by bell hooks were the first books i was able to successfully finish in like, years bc her writing style is very colloquial despite the subject matter being very dense. similarly, finding a fun fantasy book (or other genre fiction) to get back in the practice of turning pages and “wanting to find out what comes next” is gonna be paramount to being able to do that for books that are gonna require a little more give from you down the line (haven’t read a physical book in over six months so personally going to start legends and lattes soon to try and trick my brain into not thinking books are time-consuming and scary)
- audiobooks; for me at least reading requires too much visual processing + “sitting still” time that i can’t multi-task and read, so i have to schedule when i’m gonna try and do it (unlike tv where you can have it on in the background as you do dishes or working from home or something and can look up periodically) - taking a chunk of podcast + music time and replacing it with audiobooks has been a game changer bc i now read at the gym, at the office, and in transit <30 min long bc i have to track what station i’m at or see where i’m going
Mar 28, 2024
📚
I think a lot of us want to be able to read longer material, but our attention spans are fried for various reasons. For me, it was the fatal combo of doing a reading-intensive college degree that ate away at my time + social media brainrot + a high level of anxiety that makes me feel generally restless and unfocused. I used to be a huge reader, so I've tried jumping right back into reading long novels multiple times. This hasn't seemed to work in any lasting way. I've had more luck recently with starting small.
Even if you set your goal as: "I want to read something longer than tweets or social media posts," it's progress! Zines, articles, Substack posts, anything just a little bit longer that your brain can latch deeper into will help rebuild your attention. Short story collections and novellas have also been helpful for me, especially if you pick a topic or genre that you're really interested in. I'm still on some forms of social media, so I haven't gone cold-turkey. But I do feel like incorporating longer-form material again, even mixed in with scrolling, has helped my brain so much already. It's refreshing to hand-select what I want to read and give my attention to, instead of letting an algorithm serve me topics. I didn't realize how much depth I was missing in exchange for the breadth of the internet!
Jan 19, 2025
📖
reading is a habit of building and developing your empathy and critical thinking skills. you’re forced to sit with an idea for however long you are reading it and forced to contextualise it and comprehend it within your own life and perspective. You can’t just scroll away or pause or put it on 2x speed. you have to sit with it. it’s super underrated, but genuinely I’ve made this a habit for the last year and feel like a totally different person. also you come out of it having learned something new or seeing the world in a slightly new way. I literally do not see any downsides to reading. make reading cool again! also you don’t have to do it in one big block, you can space it out — 15 mins here, 45 there — whatever works for you!
Dec 9, 2024
Top Recs from @rubyzuckerman
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When I was 22 my gay guy gallery owner boss made me drive around Los Ángeles for hours looking for this candle to light at an opening. He had me buy four of them with my own card and didn’t pay me back for weeks which was unreal.
All annoyances aside - this really is the best smelling candle of all time. The scent is so subtle - wood, resin, honey, tobacco. I only buy it once a year because it’s so expensive, but I truly luxuriate in its scent for the 60 hours it burns.
Candles are one of the things I feel like it’s worth paying the big bucks for - you‘re inhaling it! It’s infusing your living space!
Feb 1, 2024
🐈
i love having one big one and one small one. i can make myself cry by imagining them somehow being separated. ..
Jan 24, 2024
✝️
I don’t know how Josh found this exactly but it’s one hour of Christian new wave and full of some of the most haunting songs ever. Introduced me to one of my favorite albums rn (“Emotional Tourist” by Steve Scott) along with tons of other singular tunes. It makes me feel like driving around in the dark. I heard it for the first time four years ago and I still listen to it all the time.
Jan 17, 2024